273: Chapter 273 Hope

City Lord Wang Feng of Aiyin City was taken aback, then sneered, "So what? All of that is in the past!"

"I once came from the Human Race Holy Land too; I once had a heart full of passion!"

The City Lord of Aiyin City looked at Jiang Hao, waiting in his heart for the other party to continue questioning him.

He waited for the other party to ask why he had become like this, waited for the other party to curse him as a traitor.

But Jiang Hao didn't ask; he just looked at him.

That gaze was too calm—so calm it made Wang Feng feel flustered.

"Don't you want to ask how I became what I am now?" Wang Feng couldn't help but speak up first.

He pointed at the numb crowds on both sides of the street.

"Because I discovered that resisting the Yimo Clan is completely impossible. The gap in strength between the two sides is too vast; we're not even on the same level!"

"The only reason the Yimo Clan hasn't wiped out the Human Race is because the Human Race still has value; it's the heavens that are still letting the Human Race live!"

"And look at these people—are they worth me risking my life? I fought desperately to save them from the Yimo Clan, and what did I get in return? These people knelt and begged me, telling me not to provoke the Yimo's anger!"

"They can't be finished off." Wang Feng shook his head, his voice growing louder.

"The Yimo Clan is too strong; they have peerless experts who are invincible under heaven, while what does our Human Race have? A half-dead Holy Land? A bunch of Fire-bringers hiding everywhere?"

"So I understood." He stared at Jiang Hao, breathing heavily.

"Instead of being a hunted Fire-bringer, it's better to defect to the Yimo Clan and be a City Lord. At least I can stay alive, and by being alive, I can keep tens of thousands of people in Aiyin City alive."

"How great a contribution is that? My contribution to the Human Race is greater than anyone's; no one can blame me!"

Jiang Hao looked at Wang Feng and finished listening to his speech.

Wang Feng panted, his eyes fixed on Jiang Hao as if waiting for an answer, for validation, or for a rebuttal.

But he didn't get one. The other party ignored him completely, which infuriated him. He had held these words in for a long time.

Now that he had finally managed to say them, the other party ignored him. What did this mean? Were they treating him like air?

Looking at Wang Feng, Jiang Hao felt quite emotional.

A former Human Race Prodigy, a man who once swore to kill every last Yimo.

Now he had turned into this, wearing fine clothes and sitting in the City Lord's Manor, sending a batch of his own kin to their deaths every month.

He even felt he was doing the right thing, believing himself to be greater than anyone else.

Jiang Hao suddenly remembered the gazes he had seen when he first entered the city.

Those people's eyes were numb and hollow; their hearts were dead.

Wang Feng's heart was different from those locked in cages; his heart had rotted long ago.

It was rotted more thoroughly than those being boiled in pots.

A person can change, can compromise, can be afraid.

But you cannot betray your own kin while claiming you are saving them.

He was still alive and still thought himself a hero.

You cannot send your own kin into the mouths of the Yimo while saying you are greater than anyone else.

Seeing Jiang Hao's silence, Wang Feng suddenly felt a bit uneasy.

He took a step forward, raising his voice: "Why don't you speak? Do you think I'm wrong? Then tell me, what could I do? What choice did I have?"

Jiang Hao finally spoke.

"No, you had another choice!"

Wang Feng was stunned.

"You could have died," Jiang Hao said coldly. "To die like a man, rather than living like a dog as you do now."

Wang Feng's face froze, looking extremely ugly!

Jiang Hao didn't look at him again; there was no need to waste more breath on such a person.

He raised his hand and gave a light wave.

"No!"

Wang Feng's body froze in place, only having time to let out a single scream.

Then he began to disintegrate, from head to toe.

Wang Feng's face still held an expression of shock, his mouth open, the words he wanted to say forever silenced.

Like a man made of sand being scattered by the wind, he turned into countless tiny points of light, drifting away into the air.

The points of light drifted and fell onto that empty chair.

Nothing was left behind.

The street fell silent for a moment.

Of the humans still standing there, some watched blankly, some lowered their heads, and some leaned against the walls, motionless.

Those who had been queuing just now had mostly run away.

Only a few elderly people who couldn't walk and a few women holding children remained, standing there staring in a daze.

The Middle-aged Man who had spoken to Jiang Hao earlier was also standing there.

He had been in line in front of Jiang Hao and had exchanged a few words with him.

Now he stood there, eyes wide, looking at where Wang Feng had disappeared, then at Jiang Hao, then back at where Wang Feng had disappeared.

He rubbed his eyes vigorously.

And rubbed them again.

Then he opened his mouth, unable to speak for a long time.

The City Lord... is dead?

The City Lord of Aiyin City, that big figure of the King Realm, the City Lord they both feared and hated, had died just like that?

Gone with just a wave of a hand?

The way he looked at Jiang Hao changed completely.

Just now, he had only taken Jiang Hao for a young man from out of town who pitied those poor souls in line and had spoken a few words in passing.

Now, looking at Jiang Hao again, an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart.

Who is this person?

What kind of strength is this?

The King Realm, that was the King Realm!

In Aiyin City, the City Lord was the heavens, he was a god.

But now this heaven, this god, had been erased by this black-robed youth with a wave of his hand.

Like crushing an ant.

The Middle-aged Man's mouth opened and closed, closed and opened, as he murmured, "Is this a Saint? Are the heavens going to protect our Human Race?"

After the man finished speaking, he suddenly knelt down and kowtowed heavily.

"Thank you, benefactor! Thank you, benefactor!"

Behind him, the few people still standing also came to their senses and knelt down one by one.

Jiang Hao raised his hand, and a gentle force lifted everyone up.

"No need to kneel."

The man stood up, his eyes a bit red.

He wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.

He just looked at Jiang Hao, his gaze excited yet complex.

When did the Human Race have such a powerhouse?

His luck was also so good that he encountered such a peerless master while just standing in line.

His heart was filled with mixed joy and worry; joy that the Human Race had such a master, and worry that it would be hard for this human powerhouse to survive, for the Yimo Clan was too strong.

At that moment, a five or six-year-old boy suddenly ran over.

He was thin and small, his face was dirty, and he wore a tattered jacket, stumbling as he ran.

The little boy ran in front of Jiang Hao and looked up at him.

"Big brother, thank you. You're a good person," the little boy said.

He took out a flower from behind his back.

It was a wild flower picked from who-knows-where; the petals were withered, a few had already fallen off, and the stem was broken.

He held it in his small hands and lifted it toward Jiang Hao.

"For you."

The little boy's eyes were bright, lacking the numbness found in the adults' eyes.

Jiang Hao smiled, looking down at the withered flower and then at the little boy's sparkling eyes.

Jiang Hao squatted down to be at eye level with the little boy.

In a place like this, after experiencing untold suffering, it was rare to still see such a pair of eyes.

This was hope.

Jiang Hao gently took the flower.

"Thank you."

He patted the little boy's head; the hair was dry and yellow, a bit prickly.

The little boy grinned, revealing two missing front teeth.

A woman ran over from the side, grabbed the little boy in an embrace, and apologized repeatedly: "Please forgive us, benefactor. The child is ignorant and has offended you..."

Jiang Hao waved his hand: "It's fine. He is very good and very smart!"

Then Jiang Hao stood up and looked at the people around him.